The Nafplio Conference
|participants2= * |participants3= * * |participants4= |casual1= |casual2= |casual3= (Wounded) |casual4= |civilian= |prev= |conc= War of the Nyrian Coalition |next= The Battle of Våsasund}} Background Within decades of widespread interstellar colonization, the political center of Erviadus was firmly centered on the larger and internationally-active empires of the south and east, most especially the nations originating from the world of Ingos Tenum in the Risolas System and the ancient United Republic. Most nations to the north and northwest of the galactic map, in contrast, were comparatively small, young, or both. Many of these northern nations were brought into contact with the established political hierarchy through encounters with the exploration, trade, or military expeditions of the more powerful nations of Erviadus, which made regular forays into unexplored space for prospecting or scientific reasons and clearly demonstrated the distant reach of the great empires of the galaxy. In 1247, representatives of the Noocracy of the Ka’lu’umil, the United Asian Association, and the United Republic revealed and interacted with several hitherto-unknown civilizations present in the north and northwest of the galaxy, several of which resided very close to the galactic arm known as “Sithis’ Breath” by the Ka’lu’umil, whose government laid claim to all of it. Importantly for future relations, tensions arose between the United Republic and the newly-discovered Techno-Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic when their fleets confronted one another over the planet of Celtanis, while both the United Asian Association and the United Republic entered into competing defense and trade agreements with the also-newly-discovered Empire of Saevia of the northwest. Troubled by the Asians’ and Mactabene's increased influence in the region and the existing Ka’lu’umil claim on Sithis’ Breath, Techno-Kommissar Luna Morozko of the Techno-Union and Anassa Omonoia II of the Achaian League, a near neighbor to Saevia, entered into a mutual defense pact and military research agreement that came to be known as the Center Pact. Saevian-Saturian War and the United Republic Meanwhile, the United Republic solidified its influence in the northwest by defending Saevia against the Saturian Republic, a small nation in Sithis’ Breath that invaded Saevian territory and was in turn conquered by defending United Republic fleets. In an effort to alleviate tensions and further Republican policy, Speaker Leonus Nestor of the United Republic negotiated his nation’s participation in the Center Pact in return for the departure of all Republican military assets from Saevia and a timetable for the United Republic’s exit from the Saturian Republic, as well as Achaian and Techno-Union cooperation with the United Republic against the Ka’lu’umil, whose sovereign, Alexios Nookrator, had declared embargoes and sanctions against the United Republic in response to Republican military activity in Sithis’ Breath pursuant to the Saturian invasion of Saevia. At the same time, at the request of Emperor Ulrik Crimson of the Saevian Empire, the United Asian Association withdrew from Saevian space, taking all the assets that they had gifted or loaned to Saevia as they went; these assets were replaced as quickly as possible by the United Republic and the Achaian League prior to the Republic’s own departure. T-line Controversy Emboldened by the partnership with the United Republic and the departure of the United Asians Association from the northwest, Center Pact leaders from the Achaian League and the Techno-Union began to consider a formal announcement of intent to forbid southern nations from expanding or sending their militaries into the northern reaches of the galaxy, aimed largely at the Ka’lu’umil: Sovereign Alexios’s claim to Sithis’ Breath caused great anxiety in Achaian leadership circles, and it was believed that an attempt to limit Ka’lu’umil influence in the north would be received well on Mim, where the Senate had yet to be informed of Speaker Nestor’s negotiations with the Center Pact. Accordingly, Achaian and Techno-Union leaders transmitted a joint announcement declaring a unilateral demarcation of the galaxy along a line running through the T coordinates of the map. Anticipating trouble from multiple nations across Erviadus as a result of concurrent negotiations among several Ingosi states, including the Ka’lu’umil, to form an alliance known as the Accord (Acuerdo in Ateri) to replace the now-defunct Combine, the Center Pact announcement also invited nations affected by the T-Line ultimatum to attend a conference in Nafplio, Teno Achaion, a recently-acquired Achaian territory on Ingos Tenum. This invitation was extended to most nations participating in the Accord talks, the Center Pact’s United Republic, and any other nation that desired to join the Center Pact or had concerns about the expansion of southern empires into northern space. The Nafplio Conference Though the Achaian League hosted the conference, Anassa Omonoia had purposely chosen a location on Ingos Tenum as a concession to the nations she deemed likely to oppose her vision, in the hopes of encouraging them to seek compromise. She instructed Despotis Ethnaros Kittalanos, who governed the Achaian territory of Teno Achaion on her behalf, to moderate the discussion as a neutral party, rather than as a representative of the Achaian League. He was charged with treating all delegates and representatives as honored guests, and was specifically instructed to avoid the appearance of collusion with the Achaian League’s official representative or the Center Pact as a whole. Almost as soon as the conference began, the United Republic, represented by Speaker Nestor, removed itself from the proceedings at the instigation of Ateri representative Jaeca Abaso. The remaining delegates found absolutely no common ground: Francis Stokes of the Ka’lu’umil and John Lucas of the United Asians Association refused to contemplate any demarcation, which they saw as an infringement on their sovereign rights to expand into unclaimed space at their own discretion. Emperor Oswallt Vaughan of the Athrugadhi Empire agreed, citing his own claims to the Aarlana galactic arm, which also extended over the T-Line in the distant west. More importantly, however, Emperor Vaughan berated the Center Pact leadership for bringing a sudden conflict to the galaxy at the time that the Accord, the United Republic, and various other nations and military entities were finally ready to face several galaxy-wide threats with a united front, most notably the raiding nation of Jernheim. In the absence of Speaker Nestor, the Center Pact was represented by the Techno-Union’s Techno-Kommissar Morozko and the Achaian League’s Anassa Omonoia. Both leaders offered compromises regarding the placement of the demarcation line, and agreed to exempt any nation whose territory already extended over it, but refused to entirely abandon their position that the northwest portions of the galaxy should be kept free from intrusion by the southern states’ fleets or colonization programs. Between these two viewpoints, several neutral parties’ attempts to compromise and an agreement to appoint Finislandian President Idris Keller as a more neutral moderator for the talks came to no result. After some time of fruitless circling, Emperor Vaughan, who attended by hologram, departed with a warning that any nation that began hostilities against the Accord, especially while Jernheim, the Scourge, and Lochlainn Comhairle remained at large, would be considered an enemy to the Athrugadhi Empire. As a result, President Keller of Finislandia called for a recess to allow tempers to cool, and departed the hall; he was ignored by most of the delegates, who continued to discuss their ideas and to deliver ultimatums. In the absence of progress, however, Paladin Hu Shui of the Trans-System Federation, a neutral nation invited to the conference due to its proximity to the Sithis’ Breath galactic arm, outright defied President Keller of Finislandia and locked the doors of the meeting hall using the Force. Paladin Shui’s attempt to force the delegates to comply with his demands resulted, in amongst a chaotic scene, with the paladin being shot by Captain Boris Morozko of the Techno-Union and the rest of the Trans-System Federation delegation being forcibly removed from Teno Achaion by members of the Thrakian Order, who had been utilized as guards for the event by Despotis Kittalanos. The violent confrontation eliminated any chance of the meeting producing any agreement more substantial than a mutual nonaggression pact for all parties taking part in the discussions. Category:Events